Slug-trimming knife fob line casting



, Aug. 1o, 1954 HERMAN R. FRlJND BY l ATTORNEY r Aug. l0, 1954 H, R. FREUND SLUG-TRIMMING KNIFE FOR LINE CASTING MACHINES Filed April 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR: HERMAN R. FREUND ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1954 SLUG-TRIMMING KNIFE FOR LINE CASTING MACHINES Herman R. Freund, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Intertype Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 4, 1951, Serial No. 219,275

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in typographical slug casting machines of the general organization disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No.

436,532, granted September 16, 1890, and particu- Y larly to slug side-trimming mechanism for such machines.

Machines of this class are generally designed to cast, in fixed molds from molten metal, slugs bearing lines of type and having trim-ribs on one side thereof to permit the trimming of the side faces of the slugs as they are being ejected from a mold between a pair of parallel knives such as disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,202,720. granted October 2'4, 1916.

To assure a proper break-away and ejection of a slug from molds of the class referred to, the slug body and also the ribs thereon are ordinarily cast with a taper from the character-bearing face or top (as viewed in Figs. 3-7) toward the opposite face or bottom of the slug. Because of this taper, the bottom of a slug immediately after the break-away during ejection, becomes free to move laterally within the mold and subsequently, as ejection continues, is drawn to one side of the mold by the action of the trim-knife that trims the ribs of the slug, thus causing the slug thickness to taper from top to bottom.

In view of the standard practice of assembling slugs in a form and locking them therein it is obvious that the ideal trimming operation is one which results in a slug whose thickness across the trimmed ribs is the same at the bottom as at the top. This parallelism is particularly important when assembling long columns of smallV point-size slugs in a make-up form such as for newspaper advertisements wherein it may readily be seen that any degree of taper toward the bottom will be multiplied many times and may consequently cause the entire column to be snapped out of the form during lock-up and completely disarranged. To overcome this diiiiculty, prior to the present invention, the general practice has been to insert strips of paper between slugs to compensate for the taper thereof-a tedious, annoying, and timewasting operation. Y

In view of the foregoing, a, principal object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for producing slugs which, after passing between the trimming knives, will have substantially the same thickness across the trim-ribs at the top and bottom of the slug and which mechanism does not require any alteration of the mold.

To accomplish this objective I alter the opposing faces of the side-trim knives-#the usual right-hand knife being provided with a small at portion extending from its cutting edge away from the mold and in a plane parallel to the casting face of the body of the mold. The left-hand knife is modied in such manner as to provide a cam surface thereon extending into the path of the slug and located at such a distance from the cutting edge of the knife as to engage the leading edge of a slug during ejection and shortly -before it leaves the mold. Thus, as the slug continues to be ejected, its leading edge is shifted to the right by the cam surface, thereby inducing a counter-clockwise rotation, as viewed from above, or" the slug about the flat adjacent the cutting edge of the right-hand knife. Since the slug is being constantly driven forwardly this rotary motion causes the rear or bottom of the slug to veer tc the left away from the right-hand knife which then trims the remainder of the trim-ribs to the desired dimensions.

Other objects and structural details will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, sectional, plan view of a conventional arrangement of ejector, mold, and adjustable side-trim knives.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional, plan view on an enlarged scale, showing a slug partially ejected between a pair of conventional side-trim knives and shows the bottom of a slug drawn to the right in the mold under the influence of the right-hand knife.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of a slug trimmed by conventional knives and tapering toward the bottom.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, end elevational view of a group of tape-red slugs trimmedby conventional means and illustrates their relation to each other before being compressed in a make-up form.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the bowed effect which results when tapered slugs are compressed in a make-up form.

Fig. 6 is an end elevational view of a slug trimmed by means embodying the present invention and shows adjacent to the bottom of the slug, a laterally projecting portion of one of the ribs which serves to equalize the slug thickness at the top and bottom thereof Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but illustrating the inter-relationship, under compression in a make-up form, of a group of slugs trimmed by means embodying the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of a slug being ejected between the knives of the present invention and illustrates how the usual tapering 3 cut is -being effected before the leading edge of the slug contacts the cam surface of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but illustrating how a counter-clockwise rotation is imparted to a slug as it engages and passes the cam surface Referring to the drawing-s, Fig. 1 .shows a con-V ventional form of type-slug casting mold, an ejector blade, and a pair of side trim knives. The mold, including the usual body portion I and cap portion 2, contains a slug 3 and is-.shown .in ejecting position Vwhereat the slug is positioned tobe forced out of the mold by an ejector lblade .4 Aand hence between a pair of side-trimming knives V5 land E; Y

--shown in Fig. 2, which is an enlargement of a `portion of Fig. 1, the casting face 'I `of mold .body I is perpendicular to the frontl face of the mold whereas the casting face 8 of cap 2 is tapered .towards the rear to provide a diverging passage to facilitate ejection. The trim-rib grooves 9 in .cap 2 also Ytaper toward the rear, for the same reason, vbut at a lesser angle. Because of this taper the slug, immediately after the ejection operation has started, is free to move sidewise and under the influence of cutting edge II of righthand knife 5 it is drawn against the mold cap `2 thus producing a tapered slug 3 as shown in Fig. 3.

tact with the casting face 'I of mold body I. During the final stage of the ejection of slug 22 from the mold cavity 24 the remaining portion 25 (Fig. 10) of trim-ribs 23 will be trimmed to full depth thus providing an equal thickness at the bottom of the slug and at the top.

While there isabove described but one embodiment of the'invention, it is ypossible to produce still other embodiments without departure vfrom the inventive concept above disclosed, and

v it is, therefore, desired that only such limitations Asmay be seen in Fig. 4 a plurality of tapered slugs assembled in a chase, the floorlof which is schematically represented at I2, will abut only at their upper edges whereas there are spaces between the lower edges which spaces must have filler strips inserted therein or the column will assume the bowed condition shown in Fig. 5.

A preferred way of utilizing the present invention to avoid this undesirable result is illustrated Ain Figs. 8, `9, 10 and 11. Referring to these fig- `lires, the right-hand knife I3 is provided with .-a cutting edge I4 and differs from the conventional structure in that the clearance angle of surface I5 has been increased and a narrow Aflat surface IB (Fig. 11) has been provided adjacent to thecutting edge I4, the iiat surface I6 vbeing :disposed in v.a plane parallel to that of the casting face 1 of the mold body I when it is in ejecting position. As shown in Fig. 8 the left-hand knife `I'I of the present structure is disposed rrelative to the mold in the conventional manner; that is, lits cutting edge I8 is aligned with casting face 'I of mold body I and its clearance surface I9 is disposed at the same angle as before. However, surface I9 is interrupted by an acclinate Y cam surface 2| extending the length of the knife and into the path of the slug travel approximately .005, after which the normal clearance angle is resumed. kCam surface `I is disposed such a distance from cutting edge I8 that it will engage the character-bearing leading edge of a slug 22 lwhile a small portion of the slug is still within the imold cavity 24.V

.A-s ejection continues Vthe leading edge of the slug rides up on cam surface 2I v(Fig. 9) and a counter-clockwise rotation is imparted to slug'22 about the flat I6 (Fig. ll) thus causing the left- -handface of the slug to be returned into conshall'beimposed on the appended claims as are stated therein, or required by the prior art.

I claim:

1. A slug-trimming mechanism for line casting machines comprising apair of trimming knives deiining adiverging type-slug ejection path therebetween, one o'f said knives having an inclined shoulder `extending into said path and adapted to engage the leading end portion of a type-slug passing therealong to-deflect said leading Portion toward .said other knife, said shoulder being .located beyond the cutting edges of ,said knives in the direction of movement of Said type-slug and being -so spaced vwith Arespect Yto the lcutting edges of said knives that the leading end portion .of said slug Iis `deflected bysaid shoulder; before the trailing'end of saidslug reaches saidcutting .edges whereby the `leading-and `trailing 4end portions of thetrimmed slug .are of substantially equal thickness.

2. A -slug-trimming mechanism `for line casting machines comprising apair of trimming knives having confronting surfaces defining Aa generally diverging type-slug ejection path therebetween .and having cutting edges at the entrance to said path -that are spaced a predetermined distance apart, -a path-defining surface of one of said knives being provided witha slug-deflecting pro-- jection Vadapted to engage the leading end of a slug moving along said path to Vurge it toward the other of said knives, rthe path-defining surface of said other knife `having a portion adjacent to the cutting .edge of said other knife that is substantiallyparallel to the central plane of said path, Athe distance between said projection and the cutting edge of saidone Yknife .being less than the length of one slug, whereby vdeflection of the lleading end of a type-slug by said projection rotates said .slug `about the cutting edge of said `other knife vto produce a trimmed slugfhaving leading and trailing end portions of substantially equal thickness.

`3. Aslug-trimming mechanism for line casting machines comprising in combination, a mold, :a pair o f oppositely-disposed trimming knives -adjacent :to said `mold and defining -a diverging slug Vejection path, ejecting means adapted to eject a type-slug from said vmold between -said knives, and camming means formed vOnthe body of one of said knives adapted to deflect a typeslug during its passage between said knives, said camming meansbeing located beyond the cutting `edges of said knives in the .direction of movement of said type-slug and being positioned -to rotate said slug about the cutting `edge `of the other of `said knives to produce a slug having substantially-thesame body thickness-at :its leading and trailing end portions.

4. In a slug-trimming mechanismforlinecasting machines, a; pair 4of oppositely `disposed trimming knives defining a diverging slug ejection path therebetween, ejection lmear-1s adapted to rforce.atype-slug past the vcutting-edges of said .knives -along .said` ejection, path, Aand type-.slug

5 6 deecting means formed on the body of one of References Cited in the le of this patent said I mives at a point `neyond the cutting edges UNITED STATES PATENTS of said knives 1n the direction of movement of Number Name Date said type-slug, said deiieeting means being positoned to cant a type-slug during its passage be- 5 560,000 Heumen May 121 1896 tween Said knives to reduce the amount that the 1008175 McNamara NOV' 7 1911 1,034,089 Drewell July 20, 1912 other of said knives trims the trailing end pertrailing end portions. 

